No,I do not"take offense" at other people's posts,even when some poster calls me a "streetcleaner" I mean,what can you do about a comment like that except laugh?And of course, other people have the right to air their views whenever they want to...I am fully in support of that.

Without making any personal comments directed at anyone,I will just state that personally I find some of the attitudes dispalyed by some of the people supposedly teaching in this field very disturbing...and I do not think those attitudes bode well for the future of this profession.I know I am not going to change it,and I do not even want to try.It is a done deal.The die is cast.TESOL has crossed its murky,dubious Rubicon.

It is an unregulated,very unstable field.That is the basic problem...giving rise to the many other problmes it faces.

Thank you to everyone for the good advice. I will certainly pass along your words of wisdom to any starry-eyed students who do not fully understand what they are getting into.

Of course, many of these rookies have their hearts set on doing this and will go forward with their dreams despite my efforts to caution them. Therefore, does anyone have suggestions for schools or programs that are particularly "rookie-friendly?" (Besides the Peace Corps - thank you for that suggestion).

Guest of Japan made an excellent point--get these people to go volunteer first. When I was trying to decide if this field was for me, I got a volunteer position at an agency for new Latin American immigrants. The students were wonderful, the agency was supportive, my teaching was abysmal--it was great preparation.

If you haven't done so already, stop by the Teacher Training forum. You'll find posts on all kinds of programs ranging from fly-by-night scams that give certificates to anyone for the right amount of money all the way up to well-known doctoral programs.

As for what kind of training your starry-eyed rookies should get, I think that depends on one's individual goals. Are these kids just looking for adventure before settling down into the so-called real world? Are they considering teaching as a career and see this as a way to try it out before undertaking an expensive master's program? Some of them have expressed interest in certain countries/regions--what do they know about these places?

I'm confused about what they want from this. If it's about travel, they could do that many other ways. If they're desperate for a job to make student loan payments (understandable in this market), they could get a year-long gig in Korea complete with paid airfare and furnished apartment without doing any training at all. (Whether or not that's a good idea is a separate issue--see the Korea forum for details.)

Although I am not a fan of this sort of thing, I think your point that they will go off and do it anyway is valid. We all have to start somewhere, yes, but we have to be prepared to listen to those who have gone before us. I'm not saying to take their words as gospel, only to hear them out. Your kids may not like much of what people in this thread are saying. But they'll like it even less if, several months from now, they find themselves overworked and underpaid by a boss they despise in a country they hate. And their students will probably be unhappy too.